Baseball fails to claim 10th straight Gehrig crown

After winning nine straight Lou Gehrig Division titles from 1996-2004, the baseball team has established itself as the Yankees of the Ivy League. Even the Yankees miss the postseason every so often, though.

Indeed, the Tigers (17-24 overall, 10-10 Ivy League) fell short of expectations this spring, never finding their groove throughout the season. Though Princeton displayed flashes of brilliance, it was unable to maintain that level of play for a significant amount of time. The Tigers were mediocre when it mattered most, winning just three of their final eight games to slip into second place in the Gehrig division.

After starting the season with nine straight losses on its annual Southern road swing, Princeton slowly rounded into form. The Orange and Black swept a pair of doubleheaders against Brown and Yale in the first weekend of league play, but then managed only one win in four games against Red Rolfe Division powers Dartmouth and Harvard.

After splitting a four-game set with Penn in Philadelphia in mid-April, Princeton sat atop the Gehrig standings, seemingly on its way to an Ivy League Championship Series matchup with Red Rolfe division champ Harvard.

But a four-game set with cellar-dwelling Columbia — who had won just four games all season — at Clarke Field on April 23-24 sent Princeton into a free fall from which they would never recover. The weekend turned disastrous for the Tigers, as they only barely avoided a four-game sweep, losing three out of four. The Lions nearly doubled their number of victories on the season, while Princeton dropped out of first place into a tie for second, behind Cornell.

Still, the Tigers had a chance to rebound the next weekend, playing pair of home-and-home doubleheaders against Cornell to decide the Gehrig Division. While the Big Red needed just two wins to take the title, Princeton had to win three of four.

At Clarke Field on Friday, the Tigers split with Cornell. The Big Red scored five runs off sophomore hurler Gavin Fabian in the third inning en route to a 5-3 win in the opener, but Princeton bounced back to take the nightcap 8-3, powered by senior centerfielder Will Venable. Venable went 4-4, clobbering two home runs and driving in five runs. After the split Friday, the Tigers knew they needed to win both games Sunday in Ithaca, N.Y., to take the Gehrig crown. But Cornell dashed their hopes immediately, winning game one 4-3 and claiming the Gehrig title. Junior pitcher Erik Stiller took the loss, just his second of the year. In the suddenly meaningless game two, Princeton jumped to a 6-0 lead, but the Big Red rebounded to force extra innings. Junior catcher Zach Wendkos hit a solo home run to win it in the top of the tenth, but the victory did little to dampen the Tigers' disappointment.

Individual stars

Despite Princeton's struggles as a team, numerous individuals still turned in strong performances. Venable had a monsterous season at the plate, hitting .385 with nine home runs and 33 runs batted in. After earning second team all-Ivy honors for the basketball team in the winter, he was named first team All-Ivy for baseball. A first team All-Ivy honoree in basketball a year ago, he become only the second player in league history to be so honored in two sports — matching fellow Tiger Chris Young '02.

Venable is expected to be taken in the first few rounds of the Major League Baseball draft in June.

Stiller was also selected to the All-Ivy first team. He was spectacular throughout the season, going 6-2 with a 2.98 earned run average, four complete games and 49 strikeouts. He was also named the New Jersey College Baseball Association's pitcher of the year. The rest of Princeton's starting rotation struggled at times, however, as Fabian and Eric Walz both suffered sophomore slumps.

Stiller was not the only member of the pitching staff to receive accolades — senior closer Brian Kappel was also selected to the first team all-Ivy. A unanimous pick for the second straight year, Kappel led all relief pitchers in the league with a 0.82 ERA, picking up three saves in Ivy League play. League hitters were essentially helpless against him, as they managed to only hit a measly .059 against him. He ended with a 2-1 record on the year.

Wendkos was named second-team All-Ivy, while sophomore third-baseman Sal Iacono and junior right-fielder Andrew Salini were given honorable mentions.